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Trans-Siberian Express
Character Design (1401109 - Andrew McGonigal) Train Operator – Anton Petrov Many cannot comprehend how an eccentric, high functioning alcoholic man like Anton Petrov managed to become the operator of the Trans-Siberian Express; however the true story was Anton, Anton, unable to hold down a job due to his rampant alcoholism originally turned into mercenary work to make it by. He was even considered one the best mercenaries in all of Moscow, protecting many silk road travellers through the harsh snowy environments of Siberia, often taking payment in large quantities of vodka. During one of his last missions as a merc, he found the abandoned carts of the Trans-Siberian Express, growing up during the re-enchantment, Anton had rarely seen any machines of the type and was completely drunkenly bewildered by the beast. In the train cockpit he found the corpse of the previous operator, along with his uniform and completely abandoned and inoperable train carts. Anton, wanting to leave the mercenary life behind, managed to track and “find” the parts to rebuild the train and even after the he completed his project, still continued to hoard train parts in order to keep his train completely operational. Although externally majestic, the internal design that Anton has built is a complete Frankenstein of a machine and is a miracle that it is even operational! Anton believes himself to a be a genius and at his peak of creativity while intoxicated and although the rebuilding of the Trans-Siberian Express began solely as a drunken project, he quickly realised the potential of his new life. That potential being that he could use the train to experience all the local spirits of many distant cities that have become rare in Moscow after the re-enchantment. He even once argued with the head waiter in the restaurant compartment that he could turn the restaurant cart into a submarine in order to sail to Dundee to get his hands on real whisky. “What is problem? I only want to make restaurant compartment into submarine. Is no problem, trust me, it will work! Air? You will all have snorkels for air! I has thought it through, besides we will have real whisky” Fuelled by his alcoholic tendencies to explore the world, he often finds himself at odds with the local cities that he stops in, this is almost always due to his drunken antics, stealing of alcohol and or train parts, womanising… the list goes on and although many love the Trans-Siberian Express for the trade it brings and the ability for people to travel between cities at a much faster rate, they loath the site of Anton. Anton has a deep hatred and fear of dragons and begins frantically screaming profanities at the mere mention of dragons. He even has a train wide ban on anyone trying to bring any sort of lizard on board, believing them to be mini dragons in hiding and will try to eat him at any unsuspecting moment. His fear of dragons is so extreme that he employs a full mini military to man the many anti-aircraft weaponry that Anton has make-shift attached to the top of the train carts, creating a miniature moving fortress. Other responsibilities that the Express Defence Force are patrolling the carts and enforcing that no lizards may be brought aboard, maintain peace and order and potentially the most important of the lot to Anton, that his glass never remains empty. Anton also finds himself and the Trans-Siberian Express constantly being harassed while passing through northern steps of Asia. This is due to the highly mobile quad bike infantry under the Great Khan in Karakorum and although the Mongolians purely want to pillage and raid the carts of any high valued items to sell on the silk road, Anton is assures everyone that they are trying to steal his train parts in order to build their own trains to compete with him. Between this and the constant fear of dragons, Anton often finds himself “trying” to help the Express Defence Force when under attack, often emptying his magazine towards Mongolian quad bikes from his cockpit. However many veteran members of the Express Defence Force loathe and fear it if the Mongolians manage to board the train, as Anton often storms the carts causing much distress and it’s not uncommon of him to cause severe cases of friendly fire in his drunken state. During a Mongolian boarding Express Defence Force Squad Leader: “How did they get this far up the train? We had over a dozen guards down there!” Anton Petrov “Those were ours? I mean oh my god, how did they get past all the guards?!” A potential source of his rampant alcoholism may date back to his childhood where Anton was raised by in a working class abusive household. His mother, an unskilled worker that only managed to find part time employment in a local butchers tried her best to provide and care for Anton and they shared a deep bond. His father on the other hand was drunk miner who spent most of his time in the deep mines on the outskirts of Moscow, he rarely spent time at home but when he was there, it only brought conflict and dread to Anton's mother. While Anton's father was around, his mother was effectively under house arrest and was beaten for smallest of disagreements or disobedience. Anton's heart was broken when the Moscow police had appeared in his bedroom to wake him up one fateful morning. His father in cuffs and his mother in a body bag. Gameplay (Gabriel Kenny 1703108) ' The Trans-Siberian express serves a variety of In-Game functions, the main ones being trade and transport. While it also has narrative value, it generally serves to introduce players to Hubs they have not yet seen, by offering unique quests for every Hub. These quests in turn are tailored to represent the Hubs, possibly by introducing key characters, game mechanics or locales. Its main mechanics are listed here. '''Synchronized Timing The Trans-Siberians movement is synched globally between every single player of the Silk Road, this includes both the amount of time it spends in Hubs, and the time spent in-between them. How long this is, varies from stop to stop, with larger Hubs which can offer a variety of things to do, including missions and trade, will hold the express for longer. Smaller Hubs which may be more specialized, such as PVP Hubs or high-level only Hubs will hold the train for a shorter amount of time, as there is a higher likelihood of a high percentage of the train's passengers wanting to reach other places. The amount of time spent travelling between Hubs is largely proportional to the actual distance between the Hubs in the game world, within reason. On larger stretches, empty parts of Russia for example, raids (covered below) will serve as a method for the player community to speed the train up. ' ' Fast Travel and Discovery As players first start The Silk Road they will have a thirst to discover what else the expansive world has to offer. The Trans-Siberian Express gives them the chance to see snapshots of Hubs, but move on if they wish. ' ' Example: xXGenjiKingXx has just finished the starting quests in Amsterdam, had a great time, but wishes to move on. Having spent all his money on gear, he needs a place which will allow him to farm cash so he can buy some new equipment. He boards the Express, which takes him to St Petersburg, where it will stay for one hour. xXGenjiKingXx has a look around, but realizes that this is the “trade hub for western europe”. So he gets to see the sights, marks some glowy katanas to buy later and gets back on the train. The next stop, Moscow, is a ruin full of raiders. This allows him to grind away as he wished, but he gained new experience on the way.' High level players on the other hand, have no need for the chance to explore within these boundaries, so they can spend a large sum of money to purchase their own magical technological fold up train, which allows them to travel the train line with no need to wait for the express. ''Example: xXGenjiKingXx has been farming for the past nine months, and holds 0.7% of the entire servers currency in his hands. He buys a fold up train, allowing him to get back to St Petersburg, which he is aware of thanks to the Express, and buy the glowy Katana. ' ' Trade and Raids Aside from the benefits of transport that the express offer to early game players, the express’s other main function is that of offering Items that are otherwise hard to come by. One one hand, these are trade items. For good money or other rare items, one could buy/trade an Item outside the coffee shops of Amsterdam, that one would usually have to hike to the peaks of Tibet for. The items presented come from three different systems. -Randomized items that change once a week. -Seasonal/Event items that are picked by staff over particular Periods. -Player traded items. ' ' The Trans-Siberian Express raid system, on the other hand, offers items that are unavailable elsewhere. These raids will be PvE and will have separate instances for high- and low-level players, to avoid high-level players carrying others, or being hindered by them. The first Raid that players will be able to access is the dragon-raid(pictured above), placed between Moscow and Beijing. As players are going about their business on the train, trading possibly or yelling profanities in the trade chat, a klaxon would start blaring. Players have the option to climb to the roof of the train and, with it still in motion, shoot at an attacking dragon until Anton the train driver has time to activate a speed boost and leave the dragon in his dust. Depending on the damage dealt to the dragon, players receive higher levels of reward, culminating in a chance of incredibly rare loot upon slaying the wyvern. Later Raids include the attack of the quad-bike riding, carbine shooting, Oni led Mongol hordes of Karakorum, against whom players fight both on the roof and in the train. Furthermore is the fight against the Raiders of Moscow, unique because the train is not in motion and thus covers a larger area. '' Dialogue and Trade Missions (1603742 - Sean McCann) During their travels with the Trans-Siberian Express, the player will have the chance to assist in trade missions between characters from this hub and whatever hub they’re with at the time. The first interaction/quest the player has while meeting the conductor will be synchronous with little player choice as it serves mostly as an introduction to the world and the Conductor, however during the trade missions, the dialogue options the player chooses can decide whether the mission is a success or a failure, giving them agency. Meeting the Conductor ''Once the player makes it to the train, they are greeted by a man named Sergei carrying a clipboard who explains that they welcome anyone aboard and that they’re invited to trade as much as they like. In the next few minutes, the player gets the chance to wander through the train carriages as it departs, having a look at wares and chatting with the travellers and traders. Before long though, they are interrupted by a siren blaring and the sound of Anton through the speakers. - Battle stations everyone! We have big one on our hands! The player then spots Sergei rushing towards the front of the train again and follows him. Once inside the conductor’s carriage, we see a man with a manic look of excitement on his face and emanating alcohol. Sergei - What’s going on Anton?! Anton - Like I said, big one! - Another wyrm?! - And like I said, battle stations! It’s shame I didn’t finish detachable flying battle carriage! - What?! I told you, is not feasi-- *sigh* Very well! And you, player, are you willing to help? While we hear a dragon roaring and see it fly in the distance following the train, the player is given dialogue options of which they’d prefer to use out of Sergei’s defence suggestions, letting them decide how they want to attack the dragon. While they use their chosen method to weaken the creature, the player will occasionally hear Anton drunkenly say things like “Take that, *&@-!” or “That’ll teach you not to mess with darling!” or simply laughing manically. Once the dragon is weakened, struggling to follow the train but still being as aggressive as possible, the player is brought back to the Conductor looking somehow even more excited than before. Anton - Time to test this out! Sergei - Are you sure? It might not be ready! Anton - Now is best time to try! He then presses one of the many big buttons on the control console and the player hears a roar and a huge boost in speed as the back of the train starts erupting rocket-esque flames propelling it at incredible speeds, threatening to derail it and leaving the dragon in the distance. All this while Anton does his best manic laugh yet and the train makes its escape. Deal with Aslan Ivankov of Moscow As an example of one of the trade missions mentioned previously, here we have the first introduction to the character of Aslan Ivankov of Moscow. As the leader of the Kapotnya Bratva (Russian mafia) in the city, it is essential that they renew a deal of Ivankov’s protection against raiders in exchange for weapons and other goods. Before meeting him with Anton, the player gets to ask questions about the leader. It is up to them to learn how to act around the character in order to please them. Player - Option A: What kind of man is he? Anton - An unfriendly one, if you ask me he should loosen up, maybe with a bit of that drink Russia is so famous for! Player - B: How has the re-enchantment affected his views? - He doesn’t like the magic or anything too eccentric. A very paranoid man. Now to meet Ivankov. Ivankov - Greetings, I see you both have made it, impressive after Anton’s previous antics. Anton - A conductor always arrives at his destination! Ivankov - So, you wish to renew our deal, our protection for your weapons, correct? Player - Good option: I’m sure it’ll be beneficial to everyone. I - We will see. Bad Option: If we can get a taste of that Russian drink as well eh? -Anton laughs- I - I will not be letting that man near a drink any time soon considering previous events. I - Assuming the merchandise is good, my soldiers will protect from any possible raider attacks. A - Those *&@!ers better fear us! Any #à$& that comes near my darling will get a good \-*#! ''-Ivankov looks disapprovingly-'' P - Good: I’m told they’re proficient against supernatural creatures as well. I - They certainly are, they are trained to destroy any evil they deem a threat. Bad: We look forward to getting to know them. I - You misunderstand me, this is strictly for trading purposes, they serve me and are not to be your new friends. I - Do you have all the cargo I asked for? A - With all the Chinese wine you could want! ''-Ivankov glares-'' P - Good: We have the weapons for your army. I - We will be inspecting them later. Bad: With all the physical and magical weapons you’ll need. I - Evil magic will not be allowed within my territory. We will only be using ordinary weapons for our purposes. Depending on whether the player has a majority of good or bad responses, they will either succeed or fail at sealing the trade deal. I - Success: Good, we will inspect the goods then provide you with soldiers to defend you on your journey. Fail: You insult me! I can see that you are not serious about this affair. You may continue to pass through Moscow though it is up to you whether raiders attack you. Assuming player success, they can gain trade opportunities within the hub otherwise locked and gain influence to begin with. If they are unsuccessful, they can try at again later.